Birthday 'Cake'
by FortunesRevolver
Summary: When Flynn spots Yuri looking at an expensive cake in a shop window a few days before his birthday, Flynn makes it his goal to make sure Yuri gets a perfect replica of said cake... or at the very lease he hopes not to kill him with his cooking. YurixFlynn


**IronyxOfxFate:** One of these days, I'm gonna be shot for writing all this...

**Judas:** You won't get shot.

**IronyxOfxFate:** Aw, would you protect me, Judas?

**Judas:** No, that's not it. There's just nobody out there who would waste their time trying to kill you. It would be pointless.

**IronyxOfxFate:** You know, I get the feeling you really don't like me.

**Judas:** I get the feeling you may be right.

**IronyxOfxFate:** That hurts Judasaur... -places hand over heart- Right here, that hurts...

**Judas:** Why don't you just bottle me some of your years and maybe I'll consider paying them mind later.

**IronyxOfxFate:** Dude, are you on PMS?

**Flynn:** It's not that, Ms. Fate. He's upset because Stahn is on vacation in Ailily for a week. He said he wanted to get out of the house for a while, and see something new.

**IronyxOfxFate:** So all this misdirected anger is...

**Flynn:** Unrelieved sexual tension.

**IronyxOfxFate: **...hearing you say that, it's kinda creepy. Words like that from you don't work at all.

**Judas:** Yes, well, you're one to talk. You write about things a sixteen year old girl in high school shouldn't be writing about at all. In fact, aren't you supposed to be doing your Japanese homework?

**IronyxOfxFate:** No...maybe...yes. Shut up!

**Judas:** By all means, if you _want_ to fail...

**IronyxOfxFate:** I've almost got a perfect one-hundred percent in the class!!

**Judas:** _Almost_ only counts in horse shoes and hand grenades.

**IronyxOfxFate:** THAT'S IT-!

**Flynn:** Ms. Fate doesn't own _Tales of Vesperia_ or any of it's characters. She just owns the stories she writes and a limited edition copy of the game. Ah...she also hopes you enjoy this story. It's not as edited as she'd like it to be, but she wrote it this morning in less then an hour before school started, and is posting it now that she's home again. So please excuse any mistakes she might have made. Do leave a kind or constructive review for her, she does try her best to write what she hopes people will enjoy.

* * *

"Perhaps this was a bad idea after all…" Flynn muttered to himself as he stared down at the odd, misshapen mass of food in front of him that was (supposed to be) a cake. Picking up the recipe card, sapphire eyes carefully switched between the brightly colored and elegant looking strawberry cake, and the blob of many colors that had been the result of his (attempt) to make the same thing. The blond knight's lips thinned into a small frown as he tossed the recipe card back on the counter, and gave his 'cake' a dark glare, as if a dark enough look might scare it into blooming something that _wouldn't_ case a new form of disease to infect the person brave (or rather, stupid) enough to try a taste.

"…Damn." It was all Flynn could say. He was a _terrible_ cook, and he _knew_ it. Yet here he was, standing in his kitchen, attempting to make a cake that someone of his talent in the kitchen should never, _ever_ attempt to make, for the safety of themselves (and others within a twenty-mile radius). Why he had chosen _that_ cake of all things, rather then something instant (which he'd probably find a way to ruin) or something easier, was quite simple.

He'd seen Yuri looking at a very similar cake through a shop window, muttering softly to himself about buying it, but not having the funds to do so.

Even Flynn himself would admit that, logically, just _buying_ said cake would save him, the kitchen and the castle's clean up crew a lot of grief, but he also knew that just buying the cake wouldn't nearly be as special as making it. Though given his skill level of cooking, the blond was strongly considering it much be much kinder for him to just go out an buy it, rather then let Yuri risk his health by trying whatever it was that kept coming out of the oven when Flynn pulled it out.

Sighing, Flynn grabbed the tray that his so-called 'cake' was sitting on, and walked over to the open trash-bin, emptying it's contents into the metal can, where at least seven other cakes of similar shape, color and odd odor had been dumped. Sapphire eyes stared down into the can, a depressed look to them as Flynn debated wither or not he should even risk and eight try. The kitchen was starting to get an odd odor to it, and he didn't want to risk making anyone pass out (be it from shock, or the strange odor) upon walking into the room.

"I'll try once more, after that, I'll think of something else." Walking over to the small windows in the kitchen, Flynn opened each one as far as it would go, enjoying the small bursts of fresh air he got as he opened them, before walking over to the counter again, reading the recipe card several times through, even though he'd long since memorized it's contents, then set to work.

With each ingredient he picked up, the knight would grab the card, re-read the set step for said ingredient, before actually following the step that it required. The process was _very_ slow, but he didn't care. It was nightfall by the time he'd actually finished getting the mix together, and he hesitated to even put it in the oven, in fear that the eggs were (most likely) no longer safe to be consumed by any human.

"I just want to see if it comes out alright, if it does, I'll know I'm doing it right." Flynn assured himself as he poured the batter into a cake pan, walking over to the oven.

"Please work," he muttered at the tan-ish colored slop in the pan, "You don't even have to taste good, I'll worry about getting that right later… I just need you to _look_ like a cake first."

Just under an hour later, Flynn stood at the counter, a wide grin spread across his face as he looked at his latest attempt. The odd shape had finally lose all the lumps and strange dips, and held a (near) perfect cake shape. The odd color had faded and it was much closer to what it should have been in the first place, no long an odd black-brown with bits of tan and white scattered across it's surface.

"It's a start," Flynn muttered to himself, picking up his newest achievement, and walking over to the trash, "If I keep this up, I might actually manage to make something edible soon." He couldn't help but smile slightly at his own words. Even he, as modest as he was, still held a strong sense of pride about him, would admit that his cooking was nowhere near the standards at which any human should be eating (and it probably violated a few health codes as well).

"One more…" Flynn muttered, rubbing his eyes as he glanced at the clock.

It was almost nine in the evening, and he's stepped into the kitchen, intent on making something (at least near) edibility at eight that morning. He hadn't even stopped once to eat, and he couldn't see the point in doing it now. He'd just have to hold his hungry, and grab a snack on the way to his room when he was done. Something without any cooking required. Perhaps some toast, a sandwich… or some fruit. After all, he didn't need to risk messing up the first two (though how one could manage even that he could only imagine).

Another hour passed, and Flynn stood before the counter, grinning again as he looked down at the cake in front of him. He had finally managed to get the shape, color, and odor right. In fact, if he hadn't known better, he would have said it was perfectly edible. Alas, when he stuck a fork into the lower part of the circular cake, and allowed himself to brave a bite, his nose wrinkled as a hand flew to his mouth. He chewed the bite slowly, the odd look never leaving his face. As he swallowed, he couldn't help but point out the positives to the situation, trying to reassure himself that it hadn't been a complete failure.

"At least it wasn't _chewy_, like the last one." He nodded to himself as he walked over to the trash, dumping the _visually_ appealing cake in with the other less appealing. "Besides, I don't feel sick at all, and I'm most definitely not _dead_ so that means I _must_ be making at least _some_ progress." Whither this was something to be proud or ashamed of, Flynn wasn't able to tell, so he settled for dropping the thought and walking over to the counter to start fresh once more.

"I'm running out of ingredients… The kitchens are going to need re-stocking after this." The knight sighed, looking over the small amount of supplies he did have left. "I've only got enough left for three at most, maybe four. I'll have to get it right before then." And so the knight set to work, feverishly switching between card and ingredient as he tried to perfect the batter to something that could be enjoyed, if only a little bit.

Flynn had gone through three more cakes, before he'd finally run out of needed items by the fourth of the final batch. He stated at it, looking depressed, unable to muster up the will power to sample it. He cleaned up his mess, setting the heavily used dishes in the sink. He didn't have the heart to clean them again, he would settle for leaving it for the clean-up crew. Yes, he felt guilty for doing such a thing, but he was far too depressed to care, and staring at the 'tools of failure' would only dampen his already soaked mood.

"…Might as well decorate it." He muttered, pulling a basket of strawberries from the fridge, along with a can of whipped-cream and light pink icing.

When he finished, he stepped back, surveying his work. How he could manage to _decorate_ a cake near perfection, but not actually cook it, he couldn't even begin to figure out. Alas, against what he had hopped, this only deepened the current rut of depression he'd stuck himself in. The cake was mediocre, at best, and would probably knock anyone who tried to eat it out.

He needed to take care of it, but the exhaustion from working in the kitchen for almost twenty-hours straight was finally catching up with him. He stumbled back towards the fridge, tossing the remaining strawberries and toppings inside, then walked back over to the counter, picking up his final attempt at making something nice, and set it on the table, throwing himself into a chair where he continued to gaze upon it in a depressed manor.

"…I suppose it was the thought that counts. Yuri will like that, right?" Flynn bit back a bitter life as he imagined Yuri laughing hysterically at he looked upon all the failed attempts, then upon the final, which, at the very least, looked close to what had been on the card.

He leaned against the table, resting his head in his arms as he took several deep breaths, making a mental note to just go buy the cake from the bakery later that morning (as it was nearing four now). Tired pools of blue looked up at once more, wearily eyeing the baked good before him, before the slowly slide shut, unable to stay open any longer.

LINE

When Yuri had walked into the kitchen of Zaphias castle that morning on the day of his twenty-second birthday, what he saw was not what he'd been expecting at all. Granted, he wasn't supposed to be _in_ said kitchen, but he was hungry, and he wanted to see if there was any of the curry he often found fresh and waiting to be eaten. He'd come to visit Flynn, as the knight had requested of him the day before. The raven had vaguely wondered if his birthday had something to do with Flynn's sudden urge to meet with him, but he threw aside the thought, no use getting excited with false hope.

"What…the hell happened in hear?" Yuri muttered, his brow furrowing as he tried to identify the odd smell in the kitchen.

Walking over to the trash-bin he looked down at it's contents, raising an eyebrow as he looked down at the full can of failed attempts at cooking what he guessed was a cake of some sort. A glance at the sink told him his guess was correct, the still dirty mixers and pans accounting for the contents of the trash.

"Look's like Flynn's not the only bad cook around--" Yuri trailed off as he turned, finally noticing the sleeping figure of Flynn sitting at the table, "--here…" he finished slowly, his brow furrowing again as he looked at the clock.

Eight am, Flynn was normally up at six at the latest. What was going on?

Coal eyes flickered to the item on the table in front of the knight, and Yuri walked over quickly, scooping up the sheet of paper sitting next to a fairly nice looking cake. He read the contents of the letter quickly and glanced over at the blond knight again, eyes widen with shock.

"He…made this?" Yuri muttered, looking between Flynn as his 'masterpiece.

Yuri's dark eyes flickered down to Flynn's hands, where bandages almost completely covered long elegant fingers, and pink patches of slowly forming burns stood out against pale skin. Bags were easily visible under the knight's eyes, and Yuri slowly slide into the chair across from his friend, vaguely wondering just how late the other had stayed up making the cake in front of him.

"Flynn…" A smile slowly spread across Yuri's face as he stood up, nosing around the kitchen until he found a fork.

The raven walked back over to the table and sat down, eyeing the cake uneasily before reaching out and forking out a bite.

"He must have been at this for hours…" _Is this why he ran off after he talked to me? Even his second said she hadn't seen him all day yesterday. Is this what he was doing all day?_

Raising the fork to his mouth, he hesitated, before quickly closing his lips around the metal, pulling the bite from its tongs. Yuri chewed slowly, blinking in surprise as a sweet taste filled his mouth. Granted, there was a small after-taste that implied the cake bad been over-cooked, but other then that, it was fairly appealing to the senses. How Flynn had managed to pull such a thing off, Yuri couldn't imagine. Normally, he'd see this as the perfect opportunity to poke fun at the blond, but he couldn't find the heart to do it. Not after he realized just how hard Flynn had tried to please him with, at least for Flynn, was a huge gesture of affection.

Several bites later, he set the fork down and walked around the table, kneeling next to his friend as he reached out, shaking the other's shoulders.

"Flynn, hey, wake up!" he called in a stern tone, making the knight jump, nearly falling from his chair as wide eyes darted around the room frantically, finally falling on the raven.

"Y-Yuri! You're here early, I-" Flynn stopped and glanced around the area again. He was still in the kitchen, but that meant… He paled, and his eyes moved from his raven friend to the cake on the table... which had a fork next to it and several bites taken out of it. Flynn blinked and turned back to Yuri slowly, opening his mouth to speak, but before he could emit a single word, Yuri cut him off.

"I'm impressed, Flynn. You managed to cook something that _wasn't_ a hazard to those around you."

Flynn flushed, the questioning look on his face replaced by one of annoyance.

"I-!" he was cut off again as Yuri shook his head, grinning.

"Calm down, I wasn't finished. You've never been much in the kitchen, and we both know it, but that--" Yuri looked towards the cake, "--it's actually edible. I didn't pass out, or get sick or anything. It's actually pretty good. I'm impressed commandant, how'd you mange? Did you get any outside help? Estelle maybe?"

Flynn turned away from Yuri, glaring down at the table darkly.

"I didn't have any help at all," he began in a bitter tone, "I don't need pity remarks Yuri. I saw you looking at that cake in the window a few days ago, and I thought I'd try to replicate it. I don't know what was going through my mind, but if you'll allow me just an hour, I can go and get it-mmmgh!" Flynn's words were cut off as Yuri rolled his eyes and grabbed Flynn's collar, jerking him downward as he pressed his sun-chapped lips against Flynn's smooth ones.

Sapphire eyes widened in shock as Flynn's mind raced to register what had just happened, but his body seemed to be moving faster then his mind, as he slipped down from the chair and pressed himself up against Yuri, fists gripping the black fabric of the raven's shirt tightly.

"Heh…" Yuri chuckled as he pulled away, grinning down at the dazed looking face of Flynn, "Well, that was a much more enthusiastic reply then I had expected. You really threw me off there, Commandant."

"Flynn."

"Hm?"

"Flynn… Don't call me 'commandant'. It feels more like an insult when you say it."

"Flynn!" Yuri feigned an offended look, "I'm hurt. I'll have you know I have the utmost respect for you and all the kni-"

"Yuri, do shut up. You're not doing yourself and favors, keep it up and I'm just going to leave.

"Says the man clinging to me like a lifeline."

"Sh-shut up!"

Yuri chuckled, shaking his head slowly as he sighed, staring down at the blond night in his arms. _You know, I'd have to say, the best birthday I've had in years…_

"Hey, Flynn."

"…What?"

"The cake, it was good. Probably better then the store one ever could have been, so thanks."

"Liar." Flynn muttered, looking away, "We both know that a child could have done a better job."

"Ah, yes, but that child wouldn't be you. Sure, you're a terrible cook—don't give me that look—but the point is, _you_ made the cake. No matter how good someone may or may not be at cooking, no one could ever imitate _you_."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Yuri rolled his eyes, sighing in annoyance.

"It _was_ a compliment, Flynn. Geez, I know the knights have made you a bit high-strung but that's a bit--"

"Happy birthday, Yuri."

"—I mean—wait, what?"

"Happy birthday, Yuri," Flynn repeated, raising an eyebrow, "You turn twenty-two today, isn't that right? Or have _you_ forgotten."

"It's hard to forget your own birthday…"

"You'd find a way."

"If you're just going to insult me-"

Yuri broke off as Flynn stood up, extending his hand out to the raven. Taking it, he allowed himself to be pulled up, as he gave the blond knight an odd look.

"Flynn?"

"I need to shower."

Yuri arched an eyebrow.

"I'm in the same clothes I was all day yesterday, not to mention I slept in them. I need to shower and change… after that," a thoughtful look fell across Flynn's face, "After that, we'll do whatever you wish to do. I'm yours for the day… it's a fairly lame gift but-" Flynn's words died in his throat as Yuri leaned in, taking over his mouth temporarily, before pulling away again, leaving Flynn dazed and disoriented as he took the blond knight by the hand, leading him out of the kitchen. He didn't have to worry about the cake, if _anyone _here knew Flynn at all, they wouldn't dare brave a bite, in fear of catching something deadly.

"I haven't showered since yesterday morning myself, and I was playing with Repede all day."

"Yuri?"

"I'll have to take one too."

"…"

"So, to save water, I suppose we'll just have to share."

"Wh-what?! Yuri! Hey! Wh-hold on! Don't shove me! Who gave you permission to enter my room? G-gah! Yuri! Stop! I can undress myself-ack! Don't push me! The tile is slippery! Keep your hands of my pants damn it! Yuri Lowell, I swear if you don't I'll call for Sod-mmfgh…"

_Without a doubt, the best birthday ever.. _Yuri thought to himself as he enjoyed the pleasant mewls and moans emitting from Flynn's touch as he hands worked their 'magic'.

It wasn't until almost an hour later that the two finally stepped out of the shower that Yuri muttered,

"I think we're going to need another one. If anything, we just got ourselves messier…"

Flynn didn't muster word of protest as he was pulled back into the tub. The water was freezing, and they had run out of hot water almost ten minutes ago, but neither seemed to care.

_They made their own heat_.


End file.
